Subsection (6) requires that Ministers send a copy of the landowner's response to the community body, inviting the community body to submit any comments on it to Ministers, within 21 days of that invitation.

Subsection (7) requires that any such representations submitted on time will be taken into account by Ministers when considering applications to register an interest.

Subsection (8) provides that Ministers may decline to consider an application due to such application being incomplete or not in the proper form or if it does not relate to registrable land or is clearly ineligible.

Subsection (9) states that more than one community body may register an interest in the same area of land, and, under subsection (10) a community body may register their interest in more than one holding of land. Subsection (11) defines a holding of land.

Subsection (12) requires that Ministers shall notify both the community body and the landowner of their decision whether to approve the application and enclose a statement of their reasons. Under subsection (13) such notification shall contain information on the effect of the registration and the rights of appeal, and shall be in the prescribed form.

Section 46: Criteria for registration

Subsection (1) sets out matters on which Ministers must be satisfied before approving a new entry in the Register.

• They must be satisfied that the land to be registered is registrable land, and that a significant number of the community members have a sufficient connection to the area of land to be registered.
• Alternatively, Ministers must be satisfied that community members live sufficiently near to land with which they can show a sufficient connection, and that its acquisition by the community body would contribute significantly to supporting the sustainable development (social, economic and environmental) of that community.
• It will also be possible for a community body to register its interest in other tenements in the land (ie mineral rights, salmon fishings) as an accessory to its acquisition of the land itself. Where this is the case, Ministers must be satisfied that the community body has registered an interest in, owns or is acquiring (either through the normal property market or under the Bill) the land to which those ancillary rights relate.
• Ministers must also be satisfied that there is sufficient local support to justify the registration, and that such registration is in the public interest .